On 20th of January, the USA celebrated the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, who has become the 47th President of the United States of America. The inauguration ceremony came about two weeks after the outbreak of the California wildfires, which were described as the "worst natural disaster" in the country's history.
The flames of Los Angeles, which have once again sounded the alarm bell warning the world of the ferocity of the climate crisis, come in the same time as Washington, DC, celebrates the beginning of a new presidential term for Trump, reminding the international community of the return of one of the biggest climate skeptics to the White House, and assuming power in the USA, the country with the most powerful influence in the world.
Climate issue denial
President-elect Donald Trump, who has called climate change a “hoax,” has been using the wildfire disaster, and Hurricane Milton, the third-strongest hurricane in U.S. history, to make political gains. The Los Angeles Times criticized the new Republican president, citing his previous threat to withhold funding for California’s wildfire response if the governor refuses to implement his water policy in the Golden State.
For its part, The Guardian described Trump's approach to the Los Angeles fires as "politicizing" the climate issue. Is the new US president seeking to exploit the climate crisis and achieve gains only at the local level? Or will these policies extend beyond the borders of the United States?
The new USA map
Days before his inauguration, Trump began drawing a new map of the United States, announcing his desire to control the Panama Canal, Canada and Greenland.
Harvard political scientist Gus Joseph believes that Trump's expansionist agenda reflects not only geopolitical ambitions, but also "climate ambitions," noting that Trump seems less willing to combat climate change, and on the contrary, he is more determined to benefit from it.
What are the climate drivers behind Trump's expansionist agenda?
1-The Arctic and the US Water Crisis
The American West has been suffering from water and energy shortages for several years, and with rising temperatures and worsening drought, water levels in dams have fallen, and hydroelectric power plants can no longer operate, according to a warning from the United Nations Environment Program.
If the effects of climate change in the United States are leading to a decrease in rainfall, in the Arctic these effects are leading to an acceleration of ice melting.
Glaciers and ice caps account for 75% of the Earth's fresh water, and the Arctic holds a large proportion of the world's fresh water reserves.
According to an article by political researcher Gus Joseph, published in the American newspaper "The Hill", which specializes in political affairs, it is expected that there will be a race for fresh water as a result of global warming and water scarcity.
Trump is looking to secure water by imposing his control over the glaciers in Canada and Greenland, the island located in the northeast of the North American continent, but geopolitically it is part of Europe because it is under the rule of Denmark.
Canada has already faced increasing pressure from other countries to export water, but Trump is not the type to compete with other countries over water while he can grab what he wants, the political scientist added.
2-Global trade routes
As the ice melts, shipping lanes and trade routes that were impossible to navigate for centuries will open. This also happened due to climate change, as the melting of sea ice in the Arctic has accelerated since the late twentieth century as a result of global warming, and the largest floating ice mass in the region has shrunk by 42%, according to a recent study by the German Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research.
The retreat of these glaciers opens up frozen sea routes through northern Canada and Greenland, the world’s largest island, which serves as a strategic gateway between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans.
As the polar routes become more navigable, the island will lie on the shortest sea route between Europe and North America.
3-Greenland's wealth
The island contains many natural resources buried under permafrost, such as oil, natural gas and mineral resources including lithium and graphite, which are needed to produce electric car batteries. Therefore, this group of investments attracts leading companies, including Tesla, owned by Elon Musk, who became a close advisor to Trump after supporting his election campaign.
The subarctic climate and melting permafrost in Greenland will facilitate oil and gas exploration, mineral extraction, and increased mining investment, which the island’s indigenous Inuit people oppose.
According to Time magazine, Trump views Greenland as an under-utilized piece of real estate, with a treasure trove of rare natural resources buried under melting ice.
4-Panama Canal and reduced customs duties
Unlike Canada and Greenland, Panama is suffering from the other side of the climate disaster which is drought. It has caused the water level to drop in the canal, which is the main passage between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and about 14,000 ships pass through it annually.
During the past year, the costs of transiting the Panama Canal have increased due to historic droughts, and the authorities have imposed high fees on ships transiting the canal to address these environmental challenges. According to the Panama Canal Authority, about 75% of the goods passing through the waterway during this time were heading to or from the United States.
President-elect Donald Trump has called on Panama to lower tariffs on the canal, accusing the Central American country of imposing "unfair and exorbitant prices" on the US ships, according to the BBC. Observers believe that Trump's threat to try to regain control of the Panama Canal is merely a maneuver and exploitation of the country's climate conditions, in order to reach an agreement to reduce or eliminate tariffs on US containers.
Several months ago, Trump said that rising sea levels, caused by melting glaciers, would lead to more oceanfront properties. This is how the US president-elect sees the issue of climate change and its serious repercussions on the environment.
If Canada, Greenland and the Panama Canal are - from the point of view of the world and the scientific community - victims of global warming and extreme phenomena, but for the new president they are future opportunities that may help him draw the map of the new America, forgetting that the climate crisis knows no geographical borders and there is no place that is safe from its effects, and the catastrophic California wildfires are the best evidence.
